Tactical observation regarding carjacking story

I saw this story in the Lounge but didn't want to derail it with a strictly tactical comment. Just an observation I wanted to share in case it might help someone in the future who might be in a similar situation. The situation is unfortunitely all too common. I carry in my jacket a car key that doesn't work in any of my cars. It's just to give to someone if they should happen to get the drop on me with a gun. Although I would like to think that my situational awareness would prevent me from getting into that situation in the first place, stuff does happen. I probably wouldn't give it directly to them either if I thought it was safe to feign nervousness and just drop the key on the ground somewhere. This is done to divert their attention, to allow me to have a choice of options depending on the circumstances at the time.

Yorlets was standing outside his home on the afternoon of Feb. 7 when he was fatally shot. Saxon said that, based on the young suspects' statements, they approached Yorlets to rob him and then he was shot after he refused to hand over his keys.

Unfortunitely I can't, I'm poor. Plus, if the place I happen to be is so bad someone is trying to carjack me, I don't want to be outside without transportation waiting for the police to show up. I've worked in a couple of inner cities where just being outside could be hazardous to your health, and the police response was measured in hours. Not blaming the cops though. Depending on what time of day or night it is, they're swamped sometimes.

Anymore the thugs will carjack you in the best of areas and many times will shoot you just for fun. The issue for me revolves on someone with a gun out, pointed at or near me, and the time it takes me to get mine out and on target. Drop the key and the thug will most likely order you to pick it up...at gunpoint.

Anymore the thugs will carjack you in the best of areas and many times will shoot you just for fun. The issue for me revolves on someone with a gun out, pointed at or near me, and the time it takes me to get mine out and on target. Drop the key and the thug will most likely order you to pick it up...at gunpoint.

Whatever, even if I hand them the key it's not going to work. After they find that out they'll probably be mad as hell, but by that time I'll have a chance to do something. Exactly what will depend on the circumstances at the time. If they're going to shoot you just for fun they could just as easily do that no matter what you do, whether you give them the keys or not. The best thing would obviously be not to be in the situation in the first place.

This tactic isn't something I just made up out of thin air, it's been documented to work in a few real life carjackings, usually just to allow the victim to escape, but sometimes to have a DGU. I personally knew of an off duty LEO that this exact situation happened to him. The carjacker took his eyes off of the guy only briefly, but it was long enough for the cop to be able to use his handgun successfully. Can you depend on it all the time? Of course not, but it's worked more often than not the few times it's been tried.

"Failure requires maximum effort. If you didn't give it 100%, you didn't fail...you quit."
"When calling for air support, never give them your own coordinates." -- Major Swain US Army"You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity" -- Robert A. Heinlein "Never frighten a man smaller than you; he'll kill you." -- Robert A. Heinlein
"Never offend people with style when you can offend them with substance" -- Sam Johnson

In DC back in 89, I handed over my wallet as demanded and the guy pulled the trigger on me anyway.

I'm not going to fight over the car, but that doesn't mean there won't be a gunfight.

WOW...this to me is one of the main issues today...and a few decades back according to your statement (I had thought it was a more recent phenomena). Whether it's for the thrill, to impress their gang family or to ensure that there's no witness to testify...the odds of getting shot have gone up.